Wall Street Slides Further on Monday on US-Iran Saber Rattling
Share prices on Wall Street extended their slide on Monday, retreating from their record highs at the start of the year, on saber-rattling between Washington and Tehran after the United States killed a top Iranian general
NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th January, 2020) Share prices on Wall Street extended their slide on Monday, retreating from their record highs at the start of the year, on saber-rattling between Washington and Tehran after the United States killed a top Iranian general.
The leading US stocks barometer, the S&P500, fell 0.6 percent at the open to 3,215 in further fallout to the US airstrike near Baghdad airport on Friday that caused the death of Qasem Soleimani, the commander who led Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds force.
The S&P500, which measures the value of the 500 largest US corporations by market capitalization, hit a record high of 3,258 on the first trading day of 2020. It has fallen since as prices of crude oil, and safe havens such as gold and US Treasuries, rocketed in the aftermath of the Soleimani killing.
Wall Street's technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index also slid 0.
6 percent at Monday's open to 8,944. The Nasdaq hit a record high of 9,093 at its 2020 debut. The technology sector was the darling of Wall Street investors last year, lifting the Nasdaq by 36 percent for the index's best performance in six years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.5 percent to open Friday at 28,466. The Dow hit an all-time high of 28,873 on the first session of this year. The Dow rose 23 percent in 2019 for its best performance in two years.
Iran and the United States have exchanged strike threats since the killing of Soleimani, with the Iranian authorities vowing to exact a "harsh revenge" and US President Donald Trump saying he has identified 52 targets in Iran, including sites of cultural prominence, in a counter attack that may be "disproportionate."